I let the poster girl of the diner wait outside and faced Miu at the entrance.
「Okay, Miu, you stay here.」
「Yes. Goodbye, master.」
「Aaaah」
I turn around and try to head out.
「Aaaahh……」
「Nn?」
I heard Miu’s voice and turned around.
「What’s the matter?」
「U,uun. It’s that.」
「Un」
「That……」
「What is it?」
「Have a good trip.」
「Yeah, I’m off.」
Miu saw me off and I went out.
I stop. That reminds me of something.
I hurried back and entered the mansion.
「Miu!」
「Hyah!」
Miu’s voice faltered when she was called out as she was about to enter the back of the house.
「What’s the matter, Master?」
「Fluffing. There you go, Fluffying.」
「Aaah……」
Miu’s eyes glistened. But she looks a little embarrassed and dejected.
I pull back and hug her.
Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy.
As I fluffed her, I saw Miu’s tail wagging as I fluffed her to make up for the lost welcome home fluff. She was so cute and adorable.
「Okay, I’ll go this time.」
「Yes! Have a good day.」
☆
I walk alongside Fiona, the girl who runs the diner, Pross Restaurant.
We left the city and walked down the street with her leading the way.
「So, what do you mean you want my help?」
「I need you to help my sister.」
「Your sister, huh? If you’ve come to me with a referral from someone who said I’m good at what I do, then I’m guessing it’s something I can solve with my skills.」
「Probably ……」
「Probably?」
Fiona’s teeth were clenched.
I feel like I’m not getting anywhere with the conversation right now.
But it seems that she really wants my help.
Fiona was very agitated, unlike when she was in the store. She was walking so fast that she looked like she was going to leave me behind if I wasn’t careful.
So I didn’t ask any questions and followed Fiona.
「They’ve got my sister.」
We walked for a while, and halfway through we left the road and entered a forest where there seemed to be nothing but animal paths.
I saw a small cave deep in the forest.
The moment I saw it, I could see what looked like stagnant air leaking from the cave.
「What is that? Is that smoke?」
「Where’s the smoke?」
「There.」
Pointing to the entrance of the cave. Fiona looked there for a moment, then looked at me anxiously.
「I don’t see any smoke. ……」
「Huh? Then that’s …….」
I was about to say something, but then I realized.
The air was so stale that I felt a chill when I touched it.
A feeling very similar to the one I felt when I fought the ghost at the mansion.
「You know, like a ghost or something.」
「You can see it!」
Fiona shouted loudly.
「If it’s there, that means there’s something in it that’s giving off some kind of demonic energy, right?」
「Yes…….」
Fiona nodded and headed for the cave.
I went with her. After a few steps, the inside of the cave came into full view.
It was a cave, but if you looked closely, you would see that it was just a small cave with a few meters of space in the back.
It just looked like a deep cave because I couldn’t see the depths because of the specter that was floating around earlier.
At the back of the cave, by the wall, a girl is sitting.
She is a little older than Miu and a little younger than Fiona.
Her well-formed face is very similar to Fiona’s.
「This girl, Fiona’s ……?」
「This is my sister, Mari.」
So, I guessed. They have very similar facial features, so much so that anyone who sees them would say they are sisters.
「Onee-chan」
When Mari noticed us, she looked up and called out for Fiona in a voice that was almost a scream.
Her voice is faint and she can’t stand up.
She looked so sad that I could see the tears drying on her face, but she only called out for Fiona and showed no sign of moving further.
As one would expect, this is strange. I took another good look at Mari.
Then I saw that she was holding something in her arms.
「A stick ……? No, that cut there, that length of …… sword?」
「Yes, Mari is possessed by it.」
「Possessed by…… unearthly…… magic sword」
「Yes.」
「How did that happen again?」
「I don’t know. Mari usually plays in this forest a lot, but she didn’t come back the night before last, so I came looking for her and …… found her in this mess. And this cave, there shouldn’t have been anything like it here before.」
「The day before yesterday. …… It’s been quite a while.」
No wonder her voice is hoarse.
「Mari, are you stuck?」
「Yes…….」
She replied in a weak tone.
「…… She has dark circles under her eyes. It’s not just lack of sleep, is it?」
I can only imagine how bad it would be if she had a magic sword in her hand and her face was all shabby.
I had a general idea of what was going on.
「So, what do I do?」
「After this happened, I asked for help from the people at Andreu Trading Company, who are always there for me. Then he told me that I should take the sword away from her. But everyone I talked to in town said they might be able to take her out, but they couldn’t just take the sword without hurting Mari.」
「So that’s why they introduced me to you.」
Fiona, then looks at Mari.
Fiona was already half in tears. Mari was so exhausted that even her tears seemed to have dried up.
A girl possessed by a magical sword. I’ve got to do something soon.
「Fiona, stay outside.」
「Well, it’s just…」
「Just take the sword away without wounding her, right?」
「Uh, yeah.」
「I’ll figure it out.」
Fiona nodded vigorously and walked out of the cave.
Mari and I faced each other alone.
The other party didn’t move. She sat with her back against the wall, holding her sword and not moving.
I took a step forward.
Clang.
Mari drew her sword and slashed at me with a reaction speed that was very unlike a girl.
I react and dodge. Mari slashed at me even more.
Sharp slashes flew from all directions.
I watch closely and dodge. There was no way to avoid the specter that leaked from the sword, and it stung my skin.
Just when I thought I was going to fight back….
「Ouch …… my arm …… hurts!」
「Mari!」
Mari groaned in pain. Hearing this, Fiona shouted from outside the cave.
「I’m not sure what her limit is. Tsk.」
I couldn’t let it go on much longer, in fact, I didn’t even want to move any further.
Then…I hit her before she moved.
Once there, she stepped back significantly then closed the distance.
I step into the ground with my dominant foot and conserve my strength.
（With all my might.）
For the first time since I arrived in the other world, I went into it with all my might.
I felt like I had busted through a wall of air. Specter-Mari is not able to react.
I closed the distance in an instant and snatched it before the sword could react.
I took it from Mari’s hands.
「All right!」
The heist was a success.
（eh?）
I heard a voice. It was a voice that seemed to echo directly in my brain.
I saw the magic sword. I can feel it throbbing where I’m holding it, as if it’s pulsating.
Maybe it’s her voice.
I thought for a moment about what I should do. I was just thinking about how dangerous it would be to hold on to a magical sword like this …… when I heard the voice again.
（Then let me possess you.）
「Wait a minute.」
I tried to stop her, but her high-pitched laugh echoed in my mind.
It’s like she did something to me, something I didn’t even know how to stop.
Nothing happened, though.
（What? Why, why, why can’t I possess you? !）
The voice of the magical sword echoed. She sounds impatient.
She did something a few times after that, but there was no change at all on my part, and the voice of the magical sword was getting more and more impatient.
I don’t know why, but it means she can’t make me like Mari.
「Okay, then let’s just leave it.」
I decided to do so and looked at Fiona while holding the sword.
Fiona walked into the cave, I took the magical sword, and then went straight to pick up the unconscious Mari.
「How are you doing, are you okay?」
「Yes, probably. ……」
I peered into Mari’s face. She’ s unconscious and looking a little worse for wear, but her breathing is regular and Fiona is right, she probably looks fine.
「I’ll take you to see a doctor when we get back to the city, just in case.」
「Yeah.」
Fiona picked Mari up and looked at me.
I feel like I’m going to cry again, but this time – I’m sure it’s happy tears.
「Thank you so much! Thanks to Kakeru, Mari is now …… Mari ……」
「No, we’ll get to that later. Fiona, take Mari to the doctor.」
「Eh? And Kakeru?」
「I’ll deal with her first.」
I said, and showed her the magical sword.
Fiona said she understood, thanked me further and repeatedly, and then left the cave ahead of me with Mari in her arms.
With the magic sword in my hand, I look around the cave, wondering what I should do with it.
I might as well just smash it and break it.
As I was thinking about this, I saw something glowing where Mari had been sitting.
As I got closer, I saw a lottery ticket on the ground.
I pick it up. Now I have two tickets.